The spread of electric lighting over a century ago revolutionized our society and civilizations, making it possible for us to conduct all kinds of activities at night. The science and technology of lighting had grown in significant speed ever since, leading to a huge variety of lighting systems with diverse range of applications. These lighting allow us to safely conduct various economic, recreational and social activities at night, bringing huge benefits to individuals and societies. However, excessive lighting can also cause light pollution. Not only does it represent a waste of energy, light pollution damages our environment, impacts our health and destroys our starry dark sky.

How did the light bulb of Thomas Edison evolve to all kinds of lighting devices available now? What is the mechanism behind the popular and widely used LED light? Does blue light damage our health? What is the condition of light pollution in Hong Kong and all around the world? How to design lighting to reduce light pollution in Hong Kong? How should we balance the benefits and harms brought by the light we use? This public seminar, conducted by engineers and scientists from HKU, will discuss all these questions. We welcome you to come join us to explore how to better use light in our daily lives and in our society in the future.

We would also introduce The “Dark-sky-friendly Lighting Fixture STEM Competition,” which encourages secondary school students to use the knowledge of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to design a dark-sky-friendly lighting fixture to reduce possible adverse effects of light pollution.

Date: 8 December 2018 (Sat)
Time: 10:00 – 12:00
Venue: CBC, LG1/F, Chow Yei Ching Building, HKU main campus
Target audience: school groups and general public
Language: Cantonese (supplemented by English)
Fee: free of charge
Contents:
- basic of light pollution, the current status of light pollution in Hong Kong and around the world
- adverse impacts of light pollution on the natural environment, biosphere and human health
- basic of lighting, theory of operation and the application of light shield
- build a better living environment by adopting dark-sky-friendly outdoor lighting fixtures
- details of the competition
- tips for making light-pollution friendly lighting
- how to conduct research on light pollution